There's a lot to be said about what kind of energy that goes into whatever it is you do, especially cooking. See, I love to cook, so all my heart and soul goes into whatever I'm making. Another personal touch I do is praying over my food while it cooks. I make sure I have upbeat music going on and I'm usually in a great mood. The only time I order takeout, is if I'm not feeling so hot -- whether physically or emotionally. I truly believe whatever energy you have brewing inside you will also reflect in whatever you are cooking. Again, this can be through a physical ailment or some sort of emotional distress. I'll give both examples: I once got very ill the same day I ate Pizza Hut when I was younger. Still to this day, I cannot even look at Pizza Hut's pies. They make me nauseous. And now, I never eat pizza, period. I just don't like it. On an emotional scale, I remember my partner and I had a huge blowout at home. I believe it was one of our worst arguments. I was making one of my favorite dishes -- chicken liver with sautéed onions. Yesterday, I decided to make it again because I have a slight anemia situation going on and felt very fatigued. Once I sat down to take a bite, I felt nauseous and realized that I had lost my taste for it. But then it hit me: I had a flashback of the last time I ate it.
July of 2012 was a tough month and a touch year altogether. Dad was declining fast from his long battle with cancer and I tried to do my best to cook and care for the family as much as I could. We all took turns sitting in hospice with Dad as he slept through the massive doses of morphine and oxycontin just to keep him "comfortable". God I hate that word now. He was still 'there' but not. It was only a matter of looking at the watch at that point. Two of my sisters decided to sleep over with him on a small pullout love seat in his room. I decided to go home and rest, but found myself in the kitchen preparing dinner for the next day for my exhausted family. I made a huge amount of a homemade meat gravy and lasagna. I had to use one of those large catering pans. It somehow took my mind off things, even if just for a little while. I didn't have to sit in my living room and cry. I just needed to do
something...something for my family. The next day I decided to go in after 1pm to sit with Dad. But a bit after noon, I got the call that Dad was gone. I remember feeling so overwhelmed with grief and sadness. I mean, there was a touch of relief he wasn't suffering anymore, but how strange to not have Dad around anymore? My family came back to the house and we all just sat around the table in the late afternoon outside and ate the lasagna and talked about how we all felt. Sometimes it got silent and other times, one of us would breakdown into tears. I kept it in the entire time, choking myself with a huge lump in my throat. I put away my dish and never ate lasagna again.
But is it the same with everything we do? Even for writers, you can pick up their vibe, their genuineness and overall sense of enthusiasm for whatever topic. If I am not 100% honest with whatever I write or perhaps not 100% passionate about the topic, I can definitely see it reflect by the view count statistics and overall response. And isn't that true with relationships? If you're not 100% passionate about who you are with, it'll definitely reflect in some sort of way, even to outsiders. I never want to be less than passionate with anything I do in life. I don't ever want to settle for less -- or settle of mediocrity. I'm not even speaking about materialistic or financial kind of things. I'm speaking in terms of even settling for less money and doing something you love with all your heart. Time spent is worth much more than money spent. Some would say my priorities are up my wazoo, but I say my priorities are spending time with the people I love and doing things in life that I'm absolutely passionate about. The last time I was lacking passion in my life was when I was sitting in my cubical wishing my life away, wishing it was Friday or just wishing I was somewhere else in life. I never want to feel that way again, no matter how much they offer me.
It's all about energy. I find that miserable people are usually from miserable backgrounds or environments. They settle, whether they are rich or poor. Miserable people will surely make you sick with the food they make. That negative energy pours right into their 'gravy' -- trust me. You do not want to eat from someone who is angry or miserable. That goes for unhappy people -- I mean, truly unhappy people, whether unhappy about their marriage or incredibly stressed out by their own children. They say that this sort of thing happens when we eat animals that were not humanely killed. If the animal was distressed or had any sort of anxiety, that we develop that in some roundabout way by consuming the animal. There's a wealth of information about this on Google.
So the next time you're cooking up a storm for family or friends, try praying over it, or just try to be in the best of moods you can muster up and have fun while you're cooking. Even if you're just BBQing a few hot dogs -- it'll be the best hot dogs your guests ever had.
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